Arkantra

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In the Freecity of Druxel, all are welcome... so long as they keep the Chancellor's peace. As a result, many creatures that would be slaughtered for daring to walk the streets of other cities can find a home in Druxel. Many are hard-working, honest citizens that want only to live their lives in peace.

And then, of course, there are a few that are still monsters, just more subtle about it.

Arkantra is not like most manticore in that she is not a 10 foot long, 1,000 pound quadruped with a lion's body, scorpion's tail, and a taste for manflesh. While she herself does not talk about her birth much, it suffices to say that she was the product of a wizard's desire to make stronger, faster, soldiers that were capable of flight by cross-breeding manticores with humans. It was an inhumane thing he did and the less said of it, the better.

The young Arkantra was purchased as an 'exotic' by Quendel_Mennel and in so doing was brought to Druxel. The criminal kingpin saw something kindred in the young 'halfbreed', as well as a potentially useful asset in the future. And so the young carnivore was raised, tutored, trained, and given her freedom, though that had more to do with a calculated effort to engender her loyalty as it did to comply with Druxel's anti-slavery laws. As she grew, she became stronger and stronger, swift, brave... and fierce. The city watch has had their eye on Arkantra since she is still part wild monster.

And a carnivorous one, at that.

Officially, Arkantra is a hired guard for Quendel's legal front. The reality is, of course, that she is the shadow-queen's enforcer. When someone doesn't pay their protection money, when a girl tries to run away, when heads need to be cracked... Arkantra is often the one that is sent to 'handle the problem'.

Having grown up in slavery and squalor, the manticore has come to appreciate the finer things in life... relaxing in luxury while slaves do the hard work. Despite her bestial features that mark her as non-human, she has a sort of exotic beauty to her, one that she enjoys cultivating by wearing pretty dresses and having a slave do her makeup for her. But mistaking this desire to be pampered for weakness would be a fatal mistaken. While not hugely intelligent, she has a predator's cunning. Her furred hands may look fluffy, but the claws hidden within are like spear tips and the arm that wields them has the strength to rip through plate mail and leave a man's guts spilled out on the street. Perhaps it is the beast inside of her, but Arkantra loves her job, and not just because it allows her to indulge in her favorite food... a byproduct of her manticore heritage... manflesh.